The Electric Bicycle

My electric bicycle has been my only means of transportation from Paris to South East Asia. It is a 2018 Riese und Muller Supercharger GT Nuvinci/Enviolo HS. It has a dual battery system with two 500 Wh Bosch Powertube batteries. I carry one extra battery in my paniers for a total of 1500 Wh. This gives me a range of more than 100 miles/160 kilometers. I recharge my batteries at the hotel. The electric motor is a Bosch Performance Line.

The ebike doesn’t have a derailleur but a carbon belt which has been maintenance free. I changed the carbon belt after 60,000 kilometers. The tires are the Schwalbe Super Moto-X. I only had 4 flat tires in the entire journey. The brakes are the Magura mt4. I have changed the break pads several times. They are easy to find on the road.

Although my electric bicycle allows for speed up to 45 kilometers per hour (28 miles per hour), my average speed is around 27 kilometers per hour (17 miles per hour). For security reasons, to save the batteries electricity and to enjoy my surroundings, I find it more enjoyable to ride at a reasonable speed.

How efficient is my electric bicycle?

The average cost of electricity in the world is 0.138 U.S. dollar per kWh. On average, my electric bicycle can ride about 100 kilometers per kWh. So the cost of electricity has been around 0.138 dollar for every 100 kilometers of cycling. 
Having cycled 50,000 kilometers in close to two years so far, the total cost of electricity used has been about 69 dollars.

The same journey of 50,000 kilometers in a midsized car would have cost about 3,700 dollars in gasoline. (The average price of gasoline around the word is 1.23 U.S. dollar per litre).

The same distance travelled on an airplane by a person would require about 1,500 litres of jet fuel at a cost of 0.8 dollar per litre. A total cost of 1,200 dollars.